The system that calls Lenawee County residents with instant warnings of tornados, thunderstorms and floods is being upgraded to give many more emergency notices, said Curtis Parsons, Lenawee County emergency management coordinator.

The CodeRed system was made available for county residents in April 2011 through a federal Homeland Security grant. Parsons said another grant became available that will pay for an expanded service through the spring of 2015.

“I think it’s a great opportunity,” Parsons told county commissioners at a criminal justice committee meeting on Thursday.

The system will now deliver notices to county residents of such things as missing child reports, barricaded gunmen or ongoing shooting incidents, chemical spills and even traffic disruptions on key roadways.

The upgrade is to go into effect in the coming week, he said Thursday.

CodeRed telephone notices can be tailored for delivery to people in specific areas rather than countywide, Parsons said. In case of a chemical spill, for example, people in the affected area can be immediately called and given instructions to shelter in place or evacuate, he said.

Notices of missing children in other communities that have the extra CodeRed feature have sparked quick responses that helped in locating the children, he said.

Lenawee residents who have enrolled to receive CodeRed weather warnings since 2011 seem happy with the service, said commissioner Cletus Smith, R-Madison Twp. Warnings come over the telephone before they are reported on radio or television.

Adding more types of alerts could be a great benefit, he said.

“If it works half as good as CodeRed is for weather, we should have been using it many months ago,” Smith said.

Parsons said it appears unlikely federal grants will be renewed in the future to continue the service. When money for two years of service became available, he said, he decided to get it and figure out a way to sustain it later. The cost is $27,000 for a full year, he said.

One option to fund the system in the future, he said, is to ask local governments in the county to pay a share.

Commission chairman John Tuckerman, R-Blissfield, said getting citizen support for continuing the CodeRed system should not be difficult judging from the popularity of the weather warning feature.